Could a simple slip-and-fall injury actually cause brain damage? Absolutely. As the old saying goes, “It isn’t the fall that hurts you — it’s the landing.”
It doesn’t matter whether you’re falling off a ladder or simply tripping over a hole in a shopping center’s parking lot. Either way, you can still hit your head with considerable force — enough to cause vulnerable, delicate brain tissue to slam into your skull as your skull slams into the concrete.
That can easily translate into a concussion, and a concussion can turn into brain damage. Unless you have testing done at a hospital, there’s no way to tell the difference right away between a mild concussion that will heal on its own and a slow bleed somewhere in your brain that will become a serious issue later.
However, what if you really don’t want to stop at the hospital right away because you think that you are fine?
It’s safe to still go to a hospital and get checked out if your head made contact with any hard surface on the way down as you fell — whether it was a counter top inside a store, the concrete in the parking deck, or a block of ice on the sidewalk.
However, if you’re determined to wait it out, watch for the following signs (and have your friends also watch, just in case they see something you don’t):
- You suddenly lose consciousness within 24 hours after you experienced the blow to your head.
- You start vomiting.
- You begin to show signs that your mental acuity is deteriorating.
- You become confused, panicked or suddenly disoriented.
- You have a headache that isn’t getting better.
- You experience a seizure.
- You are having trouble focusing your eyes.
- You slur your speech.
- You are having problems with weakness or numbness in any of your limbs, fingers or toes.
Even a head injury that seems mild can quickly turn into something serious, and an “ordinary” slip-and-fall injury can leave you with a devastating brain injury. Our attorneys have experience handling brain injury cases and may be able to help you understand your right to compensation if the fall was caused by someone’s negligent actions.
